Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-17-Speech-1-135"
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"en.20031117.9.1-135"2
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"Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell Mrs Wenzel-Perillo that Mrs Kauppi’s report, in the resolution of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on page 9, has this to say: ‘We call on the Commission to submit a new proposal as a matter of urgency.’ That is precisely what this is about. We have not rejected the proposal or said that the whole thing is preposterous. There are very many approaches, and they are all right, but, if we are thinking in terms of the whole picture, there are still very many questions left to be resolved. I think that the harmonisation of fuel excise duties makes sense, but does that achieve its purpose if we retain differences in taxation, tolls, road pricing and vehicle taxes?
If we are in favour of an internal market, we also have to think about the effects on the environment. Does it really make ecological sense for us, in this directive, to favour heavy goods vehicles by separating the diesel and excise duty rates for the commercial and private sectors? Are diesel cars not urgently needed to bring about a reduction in CO2 emissions? We therefore cannot see any justification for aligning the excise duty rates for diesel and petrol. Are there not circumstances under which this uncontrolled abundance of divergent diesel tax rates might result in abuses, and lead to an abuse of the trust of all those who took on board higher acquisition costs when they changed over to diesel?
Let me conclude, then, by saying that something remains to be done about tax in relation to the internal market, but many issues still have to be resolved before we can describe the cost-benefit equation as balanced. I am, therefore, rather surprised that, on page 24 of tomorrow’s communication by the Commission to the European Parliament, it is stated in the working programme for 2004 that this directive is already to be transposed, even though we are today discussing the need for the Commission to submit a new proposal. Only if the new Commission proposal is quick in coming will we be able to achieve the working programme’s objective."@en1
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